The Straw to his Scarecrow
by APieceOfThePuzzle
Summary: Cassandra Pierce is the new kid at Gotham High...she's intelligent, kind, and sarcastic. Jonathan Crane is the genius who is bullied and has a less than desirable home life. When these two sophomores meet, they both have to expect the unexpected in everything. (Story is probably better than summary. Also, my writing skills will improve as the story goes on.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey there, person who's reading this! First off, I'm just gonna say that my writing WILL get better as the story progresses. (Seriously, I'm actually writing this right around the time I posted chapter 4 and it does get better.) Now that I've made sure to get that into your brain: I hope you enjoy the story! **

**September 9,2005**  
I cherish the last few seconds of warm water. I got done washing my hair awhile ago, but the water cascading over me in the shower is soothing. Especially when I'm anxious, as I am today. Today is my first day at Gotham High and I'm slightly afraid that I'll find no friends. It's not as if I don't have any friends right now, it's just that I only have 2. They are both staying at my old school, Gardner Christian Academy.

I grab the purple towel off of the towel rack to dry myself off. It's warm, but I'm still cold so I run to my bedroom with it around me. In my room, I quickly get dressed. Soon enough, I'm in gray skinny jeans, a tee shirt that's blue with a white unicorn on it, my blue vans, and a silver colored necklace with a silver anchor on it.

I walk the three blocks to school while singing 'Wake Me Up When September Ends' by Green Day. I'm also listening to the song through my iPod. I don't have an iPod mini, so it's a little bit of a pain to carry it around. It's more than worth it though, music is one of my favorite things in the world.

I reach the school building and reluctantly power off my iPod. I soon find out that my first period Spanish class is quite small for a public school, having only 20 students. "Free seating" is written in all capital letters on the white board. There are a lot of students chatting in whispers to their friends, probably gossiping. I suddenly see one boy with longish jet black hair sitting in the far left corner of the room. He looks up and I notice that he has a My Chemical Romance tee shirt on. I smile at him and gesture to the empty seat next to him, silently asking if he is alright with me sitting there. "If you're asking if you can sit there, then go ahead. I hope you don't mind getting ridiculed for it though, because you most likely will," He says to me.

I shrug and go sit next to him. He smiles and says that his name is Matthew Hunt. He also says to call him Matt. I tell him my name, Cassandra Pierce, in return. We tell each other our schedules and it turns out that we have Spanish, geometry, and lunch together even though he's a junior. I'm a sophomore.

I don't see what Matt means about people picking on him until a rubber band hits the back of his head. I expect him to say something but he just smirks and says "Cassandra, this will seem like a weird question, but...can I braid your hair? I've got my reasons." I give him a confused look but say okay. He smiles a small smile and then starts braiding my long, dark hair. He's actually really good at braiding so once he ties the braid shut with the rubber band I don't take it out. Matt explains that he wanted to put the rubber band to use.

The bell rings. Señor Barron, our Spanish teacher, introduces himself in Spanish and then tells us to say our names and how old we are when he calls on us. We're in Spanish 2, so we should know how to do this, but apparently about 50% of our class doesn't.

Señor Barron is getting quite annoyed at us, understandably, by the time he calls on a decently smart kid. Her name is Autumn and she's 16 years old. I start wondering why I chose Matt over her, I mean, to sit next to.

Suddenly, Señor Barron calls on me. "Me llamo Cassandra Pierce y tengo quince años," I say. To translate: My name is Cassandra Pierce and I'm 15 years old.

After awhile of Señor Barron setting the rules, the bell rings and it's time for my geometry class. I hope I can sit by Matt, he seems like a good friend to have.

When I get into geometry, Miss Connor , the teacher, has a seating chart prepared for us. I groan in slight displeasure.

I go to my desk to find a really skinny guy with dark hair and glasses in the chair next to mine. His hair is pretty much the same color as my hair, actually. The bell rings and signifies the start of class. The class is as uneventful as a class can be on the first day of school.

Nothing big happens until lunch time. As soon as I get out of third period, English, some kid starts teasing me, calling me things like "good for nothing". I have been expecting something like this to happen all day so I just shrug it off and run to the cafeteria.

After I get my food, which is probably undercooked, I find Matt sitting with Autumn in the middle of the cafeteria. They must be friends. I'll have to find out why they didn't sit with each other in Spanish. I also see my desk neighbor in geometry sitting all alone. I am pretty sure that his last name is Crane. I am unsure of his first name though. What I do know about him is that he's quiet, smart, and bullied a lot. Yea...thank geometry class for all of that knowledge.

I decide to ask to sit by him, since he's entirely alone. I pay for my "food" and go for it.

I can feel myself getting anxious. I'm not quite sure why, but I'm assuming that it's because I'm trying to socialize with the prey of the school. Yea, Matt is picked on by the popular crowd, but Crane is picked on by virtually everyone at Gotham High. I get over to his table and tap on it to get him out of his book. He gives me a look that says 'what do you want from me?'. "Can I...sit here?" I ask, gesturing to a chair. He contemplates it and then nods. I thank him and then he sticks his hand out, waiting for a handshake. I humor him. He says that his name is Jonathan Crane.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Luneara eclipse- Thank you! I honestly wasn't sure if this was worth posting or not..(people say I'm more insecure about my own writing than I should be). Anyway, thank you(again)! **

**P.S: Who says Crane isn't going to act like he's better than everyone? ;) (Seriously though, don't count on it not being implied a tiny bit)**

"Well, Cassandra, even though you must be new to the school I am still thoroughly surprised that you would willingly socialize with me,"  
Jonathan says to me, making me that much more surprised by his demeanor. After he says that to me, he just stays quiet for the entire lunch period. I could definitely be sitting next to someone worse, but I could also be sitting next to Matt.

Suddenly, the air conditioning blows Jonathan's hair a bit and I am shocked at how many scratches and bruises are healing on him. Most of them look to be about a week old, while one of the bruises looks as if it happened 3 days ago at the most. I take a "bite" of the "food" in front of me before asking him if he's okay. 

Apparently, the simple question doesn't a deserve a response because Jonathan just gives me a death glare after I ask. I mumble a quick apology. I don't know what his thoughts of me are after that, because he doesn't speak. The bell rings and I'm honestly glad it did. I'm not quite sure what to think of Jonathan Crane, I mean he wasn't blatantly rude to me but yet he wasn't kind either.

In psychology class, I'm assigned to sit next to Jonathan. Okay...I could have a worse desk partner. Our psychology teacher,Mister Shannon , seems like a down-to-business man, from what I can gather. He assigns us randomized partners for a three day project where the groups will be assigned a mental disorder, and have to do research on it. I'm partnered with a boy in my grade named Luke Wilson.

I go over to him and we get to work once the teacher tells us to do our research on Schizophrenia. I talk to Luke a little bit and I am instantly reminded of Jonathan, except nicer and quite sarcastic. Speaking of Jonathan, he could definitely had a worse partner for this project. "Cassandra, you're spacing out on me," Luke states while giggling a little bit and making eye contact with me for the first time. His eyes look just like Jonathan's, to be honest. They also go well with his light brown hair and pale skin.

"Oh, sorry Luke," I speak.

"It's cool. I do that too, sometimes," he replies. "Anyway, we can take a break, we've gotten pretty far."

"Well,I won't pass up a break from reading a textbook," I reply to his reply

"Neither would I. Unless it was a textbook on animals, then I'd be reading the thing constantly," Luke reveals to me.

"That's how I am with science books," I say. "It seems weird, I know, but it's interesting to me"

"Cool," Luke says, before changing topics.

Luke and I have figured out which classes we have together by the time the sound of freedom, also known as a bell, rings through the photography classroom(my last period), signifying the end of the school day.

Right after I get out of the school building, Matt comes up to me and says "Cassandra, you must be really intelligent, you know that? Also, you've got quite the reputation for your first day. The outcasts think of you as extraordinary while the popular clique and the 'normal' crowd think of you as a target." I am shocked to hear that the kids here, at Gotham High, would judge a person so quickly. I am, however, glad that the outcasts think of me as extraordinary. I don't know what I did, but I must have done something big. Matt then corrects himself, saying that only the ignored kids(that's below outcast at Gotham High, by the way) think of me as extraordinary. Dang, that erases about 20 friend possibilities. What I've really learned today, if anything, is that the ignored kids are Matt, Luke, Autumn, and maybe 1 or 2 others. I've also learned that Jonathan is even below them on the social ladder. Hell, he's probably not even on the bottom rung.

Suddenly, Luke walks up to me and asks for my phone number.

"You know, as friends, nothing more,"Luke ends his question with. Matt and Autumn have already left.

"Sure, why not?" I say and then write my number down with sharpie on his hand. He does the same to me. I honestly cannot fathom why he would be such a target, he seems perfectly nice. Maybe he stood up for Crane once or something..or it could just be his poor social skills. Matt and Autumn are obviously so low on the spectrum of social status because of their music taste. It's kind of funny how Luke isn't friends with the other ignored kids.

Anyway, about 5 minutes after I get Luke's number, my dad shows up in his blue Subaru. I look around for Jonathan, but I can't seem to find him. "Well, I gotta go Luke, see you tomorrow," I say. He waves goodbye to me. In the car, my dad asks me how my day at school went and if I made any friends.

"My day was fine, dad. I think I did make a friend or two," I state.

"Oh really? Names?" My dad asks me. I always get slightly annoyed when he does things like that but I answer anyway.

"I made friends with a boy named Luke and I might have made friends with a boy named Jonathan. I'm not quite sure on the latter," I reply.

"You're not going out with one of them, are you?" my dad asks, being a normal dad, I guess.

"NO DAD!" I exclaim.

"Sorry, had to ask, Cassandra. Anyway, do you have any homework?" My dad asks me. He is asking way too many questions.

"No, I don't have homework, dad. Now, may I have my cellular phone?" I ask, just needing to pester my dad a little bit.

"Sure," my dad replies, handing me my LG G5400. I immediately put Luke's number into my contacts list.


	3. Chapter 3

**Luneara eclipse- Thanks so much! Yeah, I love writing Crane talking to people and I love writing Cassandra** **so you won't have to wait a long time for more interaction between the two of them. Your support means a lot :D **

_**September 13,2005:**_ My Thursday and Friday basically went like Wednesday did: talked with Matt a little bit, Sat with Jonathan in mostly silence at lunch, and got to know Luke a lot more. Luke and I have actually been texting each other quite a lot lately. Hell, I'm already almost halfway through my allowed texting thanks to him. Anyway, yesterday(Saturday) was a quite mundane day, consisting of texting Luke, listening to music, eating, and being antsy for the season 2 premiere of House. That's today, by the way, and I'm very excited.

I almost forget that Luke texted me about an hour ago asking if I want to go bike riding with him. I should probably get ready, since he's coming in about 1/2 hour. I shower, brush my hair, wash my face, and get dressed. My current outfit is now a Nirvana tee, black skinny jeans, a silver necklace with an anchor on it, and black vans. I hear a knock on the door and smile. It must be Luke!

I go downstairs and open the door. "Hey Luke," I greet him.

"Hey Cassandra, you ready to buy some awesome stuff at Hot Topic?" He asks me. Honestly, I don't know why I don't go to the mall more often. It's only a 30 minute bike ride from my house. I nod my head and then go grab my phone. My dad always makes me take it places, even though we live in the richer part in Gotham. Granted, if you drove south for about 10 minutes, you'd reach the outskirts of the narrows. I put my phone in my back pocket and go grab my bike. I grab my helmet as well. As soon as I get out of the "bike room"(the garage that's meant to have a third car in it) I hurry to get to Luke.

"By the way, what music do you like besides Nirvana?" Luke asks me. I usually don't tell people my music taste unless I know them really well, but I might as well tell him. I mean, he seems okay with Nirvana.

"Aside from Nirvana? Er...Simple Plan, Green Day, and Linkin Park along with a little My Chemical Romance and Three Days Grace," I reply to Luke's question. I then return the question to him.

"What music do I like? Green Day, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Blink-182," He replies.

Luke and I soon hop on our bikes and start riding to the mall. On the ride, we both confirm that we have cash. I have $30 and Luke has $25. We also learn a lot more about each other than we already had in school. I might just have a real friend! I didn't think it was possible to make friends this quickly, honestly. Once the bike ride is over and we get into Hot Topic, I see an American Idiot tee- that isn't the one I own already.

I love Green Day with a passion, so I grab a medium off of the shelf and buy it.

About 45 minutes later, Luke and I finish our shopping. In my bag, I have that Green Day tee, a pair of red skinny jeans, and a pair of skull shaped earrings. I'm unsure about Luke's inventory. Suddenly, my stomach grumbles. "Hey, Luke, can we maybe go to the food court or something? My stomach is complaining about the lack of food in it and it's quite annoying," I say, internally laughing at my choice of words.

Luke says that he's hungry too so we decide to go the easy route and get Panda Express. Better than nothing, I suppose.

**September 14,2005:** Sunday evening comes and goes, and sleep comes surprisingly fast. The good night's rest makes my Monday morning less miserable than usual. It's still unpleasant, as most mornings are. Once I actually get out of my bed, I do all of the usual things that I do in the morning(shower, brush teeth, eat a bowl of cereal, etc.). I make sure to wear a band tee to school today, since I haven't worn one to school yet. I wonder if Crane will say anything about it...if he does, I hope it won't be downgrading to me.

The one thing that I've really learned about Jonathan Crane in the past few days is that he observes, or seems to observe, me a lot. I honestly don't have a clue as to why he does it, but it is a little off-putting. He reminds me of a young Sherlock Holmes. I grab my iPod and earbuds off of my nightstand and set it to a song by Simple Plan. "Dad! I'm going to school now!" I yell out as I swing my backpack over my shoulders.

"Alright Cass, have a good day," My dad replies.

"Yea, yea, I will. Love you," I say as I'm walking out the door. The fact that he called me Cass pisses me off a little because that was my mother's nickname for me, but I shrug it off, realizing that my dad isn't that bad of a guy. I mean, at least he doesn't abuse me or anything. True, he's not the perfect father, but no parent is perfect. Oh, the reason you can easily piss me off by calling me Cass is because my mother died when I was 12 years old and well...yea, she called me that all the time.

I reach the school building, go to my locker, and immediately grab my Spanish book, geometry book, and English notebook and put them in my backpack along with my pencil pouch. Honestly, it's more of a colored pencil pouch with one or two real pencils in there. I hurry to Spanish class, realizing that I have 1 minute to get there.

Spanish class goes as usual, which is basically the teacher getting ticked off at us all for stuff that he honestly has the right to be ticked off about, and me occasionally talking to Matt. My next four periods are nothing spectacular. Once the bell signifying lunchtime rings, I make sure to not go out into the hallway until I'm confident that I won't get jumped by a couple of my peers. When I finally do get to the lunch line, I am almost at the very back.

The wait is going to be a long one, so I let myself get lost in thought. The weird thing is that my thoughts are on Jonathan Crane. I think I'm worrying about him, about his safety. I mean, he DID look like hell when I saw him in geometry two hours ago.

A rough voice snaps me back to reality, even though I can't quite decipher the words the person said. I just notice that a little bit of the food looks edible today, namely the mashed potatoes...that don't even have gravy on them or anything like that! Oh well, I won't complain. I pay for the food and immediately head to Crane's table, AKA 'the table I am barely accepted at'. When I reach the aforementioned table, I sit down quickly.

"Hello Jonathan," I say to him in greeting.

"Hello Cassandra," He replies to me.

"I kind of hate to ask, but what happened to you? You look terrible," I ask, honestly not expecting an answer.

"That is none of your business," Jonathan replies to my question. At least he didn't give me a glare this time. Suddenly, I realize that this is the longest time that I have actually engaged in a conversation with Jonathan Crane. I want to keep it going, kind of to test how long he will put up with it.

"May I ask what you were reading on Wednesday?" I ask him. I was actually wondering, because he apparently finished it on Wednesday night.

"A psychology book," Jonathan states. Well, shit, I don't really have a good response to that. Did Jonathan do that on purpose to get me to stop talking? I wouldn't put it past him. I don't want to just blurt out a random question but I still want to keep this conversation going.

" Which one?...if you don't mind me asking," is the thing that comes out of my mouth.

"The Psychology of Fear and Stress," Jonathan quickly replies to me.

"Ah," is all I say in reply to him.

Well, so much for a long conversation. After lunch, my entire day goes as expected.


	4. Chapter 4

**Luneara eclipse- Yay! I have a faithful reader! Yea, Cassandra and Luke definitely are not in any sort of romantic relationship at the moment. As for Jonathan, he is slowly growing to like Cassandra and Cassandra isn't really a prying type of person. By the way, I'll take constructive criticism if you have any :) **

**September 16, 2005: **"Ugh, it's Wednesday," I grumble to myself as I shut off my annoying alarm clock. I hate Wednesdays as much as most teenagers hate Mondays...they always go so slowly, plus in my old school we had to go to a weekly assembly thing on Wednesdays. Needless to say- those assemblies were boring and pointless.

Yesterday was honestly the most mundane day that I've ever had at Gotham High; it was almost literally the same routine as on Monday.

I get up out of bed and reluctantly take my shower along with the rest of the crap I need to do before going out of the house. I listen to Letterbomb by Green Day while getting dressed, hoping that my father won't knock on the door while my earbuds are in. I'll have to admit, it's difficult getting a shirt over earbuds without the earbuds falling out of your ears. Once I'm done with that...chore, I go downstairs and realize I have about 1/2 hour before I need to start walking.

Because of the amount of time I have, I rummage through the pantry, trying to find a box of Corn Pops. I know I asked dad for them...ah! there they are! I take the yellow cereal box out of the pantry and pour myself a bowl of them. Once I get them in the bowl, I make sure to eat my breakfast quickly. When I finish, I tell my dad that I'm going to school early and then head off while Give Me Novacaine by Green Day is playing in my ears.

I walk into the large building that is known as Gotham High...seriously, they couldn't have come up with a more original name? They could have used the name of pretty much any president or inspirational figure!

I walk down the hallway to my locker, locker 1130. Just as I close my locker, I see something that I honestly should have seen sooner...or at least heard sooner. This thing that I'm seeing? Some big guy with short blond hair throwing Jonathan against a group of lockers. I take a deep breath to calm myself. If there's one thing that pisses me off, it's people that hurt other people for no reason. I take one of my earbuds out and loudly say "I'd stop beating the poor kid up if you don't want to get punched in the head".

Of course, I regret speaking at all once I'm done saying that.

The guy turns around and I see that he has dark brown eyes. He cocks his head. "Oh yea? I'd like to see you try, bitch!" he screams at me. Okay...now I REALLY regret trying to do something. I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of a coward when it comes to pain. I mean, I have an average pain tolerance, but in all honesty I'm a little afraid of pain...at least when other people inflict it.

Well, I better keep going with this. "I don't think your family would be pleased to hear that their son got a concussion from a girl, you know," I reply to him, much more calmly than I usually would in situations like this.

"Exactly! they wouldn't and since my aunt runs this school you'd get expelled!" the boy exclaims with a pleased look on his face.

I sigh and then flip him off before putting my earbud back in. I don't feel like getting in trouble for hitting a student and I know that he'd get me expelled if I even touched him...or I just don't want to risk it.

Apparently, the boy notices my MCR tee because while I'm jogging down the hallway he yells "anorexic emo slut!" right at me, loud enough so I can hear it through my music. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes. Why did those three words hurt so much? I mean, the first thing he called me didn't hurt at all.

I'm really close to the Spanish classroom so I hope I can contain the tears until I can put my head on my desk in there. Wait, what am I talking about? I can contain tears...it's easy. Just start thinking of House and the comical rudeness displayed on the show. I do just that and it helps- a lot.

After Spanish class, I go into geometry class, where I'll probably get scolded by Jonathan or something...or picked on along with him by the rest of the people in the room. I go to my chair and sit down silently, hoping to not be noticed by anyone. Well, that isn't going to happen but I might as well try. I get out a few colored pencils and a piece of blank white paper to draw.

I start simple- a small doodle of a couple stick figures on a mountain. Once I'm done with the simple drawing I decide to draw something more intricate. By the time Jonathan sits down in his chair, I've already got a great drawing of a fire done. The awesome thing about it is that I did it in about two minutes.

"Cassandra, you are an idiot," Jonathan calmly states. Wow...how rude can he get? I was trying to help him for god's sake! Then again, I could have done it a bit differently.

"Look, if you're talking about the thing that happened before school, can we not talk about it? I mean you obviously aren't thanking me," I say to him, hoping that for once he'll let me have my way.

"Fine, but you should of just left the situation alone," Jonathan replies.

I decide to do what he does a lot and just stay silent. He can't scold me for doing something that he regularly does, after all. Anyways, the bell rings and we all start class. The geometry today is a little harder than usual...which basically means 'hell for me, not hell for everyone else'.Because of this, you could say that I was extremely glad to get out of second period.

My next period, English, goes as normal and then it's time for lunch. I hope I don't get beat up by anybody in the hall...it's not as if that's ever happened, but it just might after today's spectacle.

After I wait for about 10 minutes, I realize that I'm probably safe enough to go into the hallway. Walking down the halls isn't half as bad as I thought it would be, hell, I'm not even noticed by anyone.

I go through the usual routine of getting the edible stuff that this school offers and then finding Crane. Once I reach the table I sit myself down into the chair across from Jonathan. I'm about to say hello to him, but I soon realize that I'm not in a talkative mood right now. Maybe Jonathan will start a conversation for once? Unlikely, but I suppose it _could_ happen.


	5. Chapter 5

**Luneara eclipse- Aww you're so nice, thank you! I've always found making up characters an easy thing to do, honestly. As for the bully...he may try to hurt Cassandra...but she'll hurt him back if he tries. She might not win, but the bully would get hurt at least a little.**

**Guest- whoever you are, thanks a bunch! What do you mean "finally" by the way? I've seen many good batman fanfics out there. True...most of the good ones haven't been updated in awhile. Anyways, I'll be the first to say that incorrect grammar pisses me off. **

**A/N: So...I kind of noticed that all(most) of the other fan fictions in this category looked different from mine so I kinda tweaked the layout of the last few chapters to fit in with the rest of the writers here. I hope you guys do not mind...Also, sorry for wait, I was on vacation for 9 days and I forgot to bring my laptop.  
**

To my surprise, Jonathan does start the conversation.

"I suppose I should thank you for trying to help me, Cassandra," Jonathan states coolly.

"I suppose I should acknowledge your thanks so, you're welcome," I reply to him.

Jonathan merely nods at my statement. He doesn't look annoyed, like I thought he might.

We're off to a better start on this conversation than I thought we would be, so I contemplate whether to try and keep it going or not. I don't want to annoy Jonathan, but I also don't want to not talk to my only table mate.

"So...Jonathan, how has your day been? Aside from the whole being thrown against a locker thing, I mean," I say, realizing how stupid I must sound to him. I don't really care what he says about it though.

I almost laugh at the thought of him actually responding, but apparently he trusts me or something, because he actually does respond to my question.

"It has gone as expected. Why do you ask?" He questions me.

"I don't know, because it's a conversation starter, I suppose," I reply to the question.

"I see. Well, Cassandra, you're not completely brainless like most people here are, so I'll humor you. What has your day consisted of?" He asks. I'm honestly not sure if he was complimenting me or just insulting everyone else.

"What do you think? Going to classes, talking to the one friend I have, and trying to go mostly unnoticed," I state in reply.

"After this morning, it won't be possible to go...mostly unnoticed," Jonathan says.

"I've been doing okay so far...I think," I reply with uncertainty.

Jonathan just humphs at me.

The rest of the lunch period is spent in the ever present silence that surrounds me whenever I try to socialize with Jonathan Crane. I know that I'm slowly getting him to think of me as a friend, but it's very slow going. Maybe he finally realizes that I'm not merely pretending to not hate him. I would never do something like that, thank you very much.

Once the familiar sound of the bell choruses through the school, I find Luke and ask if I can walk to psychology class with him. He replies with a quick approval.

I have to admit that it feels nice to not be alone during the break in between classes. Everyone else is always talking to their friends while Luke, Jonathan, and myself are talking to no one, confirming our low status in the school. Yes, I know I shouldn't say things like that while we're still in the month of September, but I don't care.

While we walk to class, Luke and I talk a little bit about how school is going. Hey, in our defense, what else can you talk about in 2 or 3 minutes? Yes, by the way, we've gotten to true friendship in a matter of a week...it's probably quicker than most friendships, but I'm not complaining.

Once we reach our destination and we start class, the teacher says that we are going to do something in the same partners that we had a week ago. Apparently our teacher really likes giving group projects. I don't have a problem with that, it's actually quite nice and gives the class some livelihood. Well, except for the fact that it gets as loud as hell in here for about 20 minutes before the teacher finally shuts the nuisances up.

The rest of the school day isn't...notable. After school, however, I get a text from my dad telling me that I'll have to get a ride home or walk myself home because he has to get an important paper done. I remember that he insisted that I take my phone to school every day and now I see why. Oh yeah, my dad works from home as a medical records transcriptionist...I think. I might be getting the title of the job wrong.

It's sunny outside and 75˚ Fahrenheit so I decide to just make the walk home instead of burdening Luke's family with me as a passenger. It's going to be a little lonely walking home, because it takes about 15 minutes but that isn't too much of a problem. Better start now, I suppose. I immediately take my iPod out of my backpack and start listening to Linkin Park.

**September 22, 2005:**

Ah, lunchtime...the one period where I can draw in peace. Actually...I've never brought my sketchbook to lunch but I might as well do it today. It's not as if Jonathan and I say more than about six sentences to each other, anyway...if that. I'll admit that we're not as awkward as we used to be. I mean, we used to usually be completely silent and now we make a tiny bit of small talk. Progress, even if it's small, is progress.

I remember a couple days ago I found a chocolate bar in the kitchen and decided to take it to school. I gave some to Jonathan(not without his permission...that would have been weird.) and that was when I realized he didn't hate me. Seriously, I thought he hated me for the longest time...you can't blame me, really, he is quite rude.

Once I get to the aforementioned human being I put my sketchbook and a pencil down on the table. "Hi," I greet Jonathan.

"Hello," Jonathan replies back. "why did you bring that...sketchbook?"

"We don't exactly talk much. Besides, it's nice to get my mind off of school once in awhile," I reply to him.  
Jonathan just makes a 'hmm' sound. Once I start drawing, however, he asks me what exactly I'm drawing.

"Just the cover of an album by Green Day, why?" I ask in return

"I was merely curious," Jonathan replies to me.

I say a quick 'okay' and get back to my drawing. Jonathan doesn't talk anymore.

I concentrate very hard on the sketch I'm doing. I've always loved the symbolism of a heart being a grenade because if someone messes with your heart too much, it can become dangerous, at least in my opinion.

Once I finish the sketch, I sign it with a quote from the album instead of my name. To be exact, I said(well...wrote) "it's not over 'till you're underground." I mean, it's highly true...nothing is technically over for you until you die. The song, letterbomb, might have meant for the quote to mean something else, but I guess I like making my own conclusions about song meanings. Anyhow, when I finish with that I only have to wait for about 5 minutes until lunch is over.

Well, here we go again...walk with Luke to psychology class, spend the rest of the day doing nothing extraordinary, and then go home. While Luke and I make our usual trek upstairs, someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn around to see that it's Matt.

"Hey, Matt, what's up?" I immediately ask him.

"Nothing much...hey, who's your friend?" Matt asks me.

"Luke Wilson," Luke cuts in, introducing himself.

"Ah. Nice to meet you, I'm Matthew Hunt. Call me Matt though," Matt replies to Luke.

"Okay, oh nice shirt by the way," Luke says, gesturing to Matt's Blink 182 tee.

"Thanks. You too!" Matt replies to Luke's compliment. Luke, at the moment, is wearing a My Chemical Romance tee. It reminds me of when I first met Matt. Honestly, Matt and I do make small talk every day right before Spanish starts and we have a decent relationship. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that he knows about my sort of acquaintance relationship with Jonathan Crane while Luke doesn't. I should probably let him know where I am during lunch sometime.

"Um..guys, I hate to cut your meeting short but Luke, we have about 1 minute before psychology starts and we're still halfway down the hall from where we're supposed to be," I say, surprising myself by not sounding TOO stupid. Luke nods at me and starts walking. I bid Matt farewell before following him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jasmine Scarthing- Thank you so much! When I looked at the reviews for the last chapter and I saw your positive review I was really happy. Haha, the reason I set it in 2005 is because I believe Jonathan's full back-story(AKA terrible grandmother) was released in 2005**.** Besides, it wouldn't be totally unrealistic to place Batman Begins in the future by about 10 years or so :) (I have no idea why I felt the need to explain)**

**Luneara eclipse- Thank you so much! Your reviews mean a lot to me. Haha, yeah, I think most people DO have that one fast friend. Believe me, the Cassandra/Luke friendship is an important part of this story. **

**A/N: Italics mean that whatever is being said is technically being written**

**September 25,2005:** **  
**

During Spanish class, Matt passes me a piece of paper. I check to see if Señor Barron is looking at me and when I see that he isn't, I look at the thing that I'm assuming is a note.

_Hey Cassandra, I'm bored...this is just review, why is he even talking about this AGAIN? Anyways, how's your buddy-buddy thing with Crane going? -Matt_

Really? Matt obviously hasn't seen Jonathan and I together... the kid moderately tolerates me at most. He is right about the class though, the teacher has already talked about this concept...twice. I don't understand how our class can be so brainless, as Jonathan would say. I wouldn't say that, actually...I'd say 'behind'. I write a reply to Matt's note.

_Really, Matt? Jonathan and I are nowhere NEAR buddies. He tolerates me moderately at the most. You know, now that we're on the subject...why haven't you tried to...socialize...with him? I mean, you don't seem as mean as most of the kids here. -C_

I'm at least going to be smart about signing my note...I'm not going to put an obvious name or nickname on it. I pass the note to Matt as discreetly as possible and he is quickly scrawling a reply.

It seems to be a long reply, so while I'm waiting I grab a piece of scratch paper and draw. At least if the teacher catches me, I can claim that I'm one of those people that learns better while drawing. I decide to draw two roses and start on the outline.

By the time Matt passes his reply to me, I have finished drawing two black roses.

Even at a first glance of Matt's response I can tell that he's trying to explain himself- or telling a story.I read the whole thing.

_Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I guess I just imagined the impossible...seriously, it's pretty impossible. Anyway, the reason I haven't tried to socialize with Jonathan Crane is because I know that if I tried it wouldn't turn out well. I mean, he's an arrogant genius while I'm a fun loving joker. Don't get me wrong, I'm not uncaring, I just don't see how Jonathan and I could have a friendship. Hell, I don't see how YOU and Jonathan could have a friendship. Actually, scratch that...you're apparently a rare specimen. I've seen you socialize with him and he actually doesn't up and leave. Trust me, that happened to Autumn once...he seriously just commented something under his breath and left. Mind telling me how you do it? I mean, get Jonathan to be semi decent to you? -Matt_

Well, I was right about the 'trying to explain himself' thing. To be honest, I didn't think Jonathan would be that bad to other people. What is it about me that's so different? I quickly decide to write my thoughts to Matt.

_Oh really? I know he's kinda rude but I didn't think he was THAT bad. You're right about you and him not being compatible...you're too different. As for telling you 'how I do it', I can't because I don't know. I don't know what so different about me. -C_

I pass the note back to Matt and the bell rings about two minutes later.

All throughout geometry class I forget about what happened in Spanish. I don't actually mean to, but I realize that Jonathan is wearing long sleeves and has a bruise on his face. Why won't he let me ask if he's okay? I'm genuinely kind of concerned about his well being. Does he just not know how to react to niceness coming from a fellow teenager? It seems quite likely.

When lunchtime comes around, I decide to be bold and try to walk with Jonathan. It probably won't work...he'll probably already be in the cafeteria somehow, but I'll try. I rush out of the computer lab and try to find him without getting stopped by a jerk.

I actually do find him really close to the cafeteria.

I decide to not disturb him and slow myself down. When I finally do get into the cafeteria I get my food and do the rest of the usual routine, sitting across from Jonathan and saying hi.

"Hello," Jonathan replies.

I almost ask him if he's okay again but I decide not to. He wouldn't answer if I did.

"How are you?" I ask him. I don't know why, it's just a polite thing to do.

"I'm decent. Yourself?" He shocks me by asking. Seriously, did Jonathan Crane just ask how I was? I don't believe he's done that before. I mean, he's asked what my day consisted of but that's not the same thing. Plus I think he insulted other people before asking that. This time he just...asked how I was.

"I'm good," I reply.

Jonathan doesn't actually reply back, which is completely normal for him. I spend the rest of lunch period in silence, wondering if there really IS something different about me that causes Jonathan to actually socialize with me. Maybe it's the fact that I'm not a jerk but I don't pester him with my caring either. I don't know. I guess I'm thinking that, from what I know about Autumn, she probably...asked him if he was okay too much.

I know that if I had asked twice the first time I met him he would have walked away...well, probably, considering that asking once got me a death glare.

Once the bell rings, I find Luke and walk to psychology with him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Luneara eclipse- Thank you! Haha, yes, it is progress.  
**

**Jasmine Scarthing- Thanks! I hope you like the rest of the story! *Cassandra looks at you, confused as to why you called her Cassie***

**A/N: TRIGGER WARNING: Okay...it might not be triggering at all and is honestly quite expected in a Crane/OC story...but I still felt the need to warn you just in case. Also, ha! I did it without making them be neighbors!  
**

"So, Cassandra, are you excited it's Friday?" Luke asks me while we walk.

"Of course I am," I say, smiling.

Luke chuckles for a second before replying with "So am I. Any weekend plans?"

"Yeah, I'm staying the night at an old friend's house tonight," I reply back to him. It's true...I am staying the night at my friend Anna's house tonight. I haven't seen her in a couple months so it will be nice, I hope.

The rest of the school day isn't anything spectacular.

**(Later that night)**

I got to Anna's house about 6 hours ago and I now look at her seeing that she's asleep. Good, I can relax and get away from people in general.

Anna has a really nice balcony right outside of her bedroom and since I've never actually gone on it before, I'm going to do exactly that. I hope her neighbors aren't fighting or something. It would honestly be nice to bring my sketchbook and a flashlight out there, too.

I go to my suitcase and take out my sketchbook and ask Anna's parents if they have a flashlight.

"Why do you need a flashlight, Cassandra?" Anna's dad, Jordan, asks me.

"I want to go outside and draw. Anna's asleep and I'm not tired," I reply, explaining myself.

Jordan tells me where a working flashlight is located and I thank him before getting it. After I get the flashlight, I dig my iPod and earbuds out of my backpack, thinking that I might want to listen to some music.

Once I finally get onto the balcony, I put my earbuds in my ears and listen to Papercut by Linkin Park. Well, at least I have an idea for a drawing. I start drawing a cloaked figure stalking a young man.

The drawing looks pretty good when I finish it, so I sign the sketch with "It's like I'm paranoid, looking over my back. It's like a whirlwind inside of my head."

I close my sketchbook and lean back in the wooden chair I'm sitting in. It's actually quite comfortable for a wooden chair. I yawn and notice my eyes getting watery, but I'm compelled to stay out here for some reason so I do.

I yawn again and take my phone out of my pocket, looking at the time. According to my phone's clock, which is mostly right, it's 12:13 AM. Happy September 26th.

I'm actually standing up to go inside right as I see two figures walk out of Anna's next door neighbor's house and toward the abandoned chapel that is for some reason still standing. Why would anyone go to that old building? I'm intrigued so I quickly and quietly sit back down and turn off my flashlight. It could be a secret or something, you never know.

"GET IN THERE JONATHAN CRANE, AND LET THE CROWS TAKE THE DEMONS OUT OF YOU!" I suddenly hear someone say. I probably would have jumped back 2 feet if the back of the chair wasn't here to stop me. Don't judge, the old woman's voice was frightening.

Once I'm over the initial shock I realize something: the old woman said Jonathan CRANE. Also, I could hear her scream over my music...it was probably painfully loud without a barrier.

Wait, why am I thinking about that? What am I doing? The crows start attacking the old buildi- wait, no, they're attacking...Jonathan. I cover my mouth with my hand before I end up doing something stupid like scream out his name or something. Luckily I don't do that. I may not like Jonathan all that much, but that has to HURT. I want to help him, to get him out of there. Of course, I'm pretty sure I saw the old woman lock the door behind her. What the hell?! That's...that's one of the cruelest things I've ever heard of. Especially since it happens to Jonathan a lot- er, probably does.

Suddenly, I put it all together. The scratches that are ever present on Jonathan, how they got there over the weekend, the bruises, him always trying to get me out of it. All of a sudden, my heart is literally aching. I'm not kidding, it's a literal ache. It feels kind of like butterflies in your stomach, except in your heart, actually.

God, why did my iPod have to play this song right now? Couldn't it play MCR or something? Don't get me wrong, I like this song, but My Immortal by Evanescence isn't exactly helping my emotions right now. I start instinctively lip syncing to it, I don't know why, and before I know it, I can feel a few tears streaming down my face. I can still hear Jonathan's hell happening about 100 feet away from me.

What am I supposed to do about this? I mean, I know to tell the cops or something...but how exactly do I explain this?

I'm crying for about 5 minutes before I feel myself drifting off to sleep. I hope I forget about this in my dreams.

**September 26, 2005:  
**

I wake up to someone shaking my arm. I open my eyes, hoping to everything good and holy that it's not that old woman. Did that even really happen? Regardless of if it really happened or not, I still had a nightmare about an old woman with a crow's head attacking random small children. I'm glad to be awake, because I haven't had a nightmare that vivid in years.

When I see it's just Anna I sigh in relief before randomly hugging her and telling her about my 'crow's head' nightmare.

"What could have possibly caused a nightmare like that? Oh...did those crows go crazy for no reason again?" She asks me.

Wait...so that whole abuse thing DID happen last night. I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I try closing my eyes as well, but when I do that I can only see the crows attacking. When I open my eyes again Anna looks at me, concerned.

I regain my composure in a split second, telling Anna it's just tiredness taking over my senses. I don't know why I'm doing this. I think I just don't want to come to terms with the fact that Jonathan's entire life is a nightmare.

"Go inside, Anna, I'll be with you in a few minutes," I say to her.

She shrugs and goes in her house. She must be tired too.

I'm almost done gathering my things that I left out here when I see Jonathan walk out of his house with a key in hand. I'll bet money he's getting the mail.

You know what? I am talking to him. It may or may not be about the hellish event last night, but I'm still talking to him.

I go inside Anna's house and quickly go to her front yard. Okay...now how do I do this discreetly?

I don't have a mailbox key...shit, well, discreet isn't going to happen. Wait...maybe it can happen. I grab my iPod and earbuds that somehow ended up next to me last night and play Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana.

I walk with my head down a bit up to the mailboxes. Once I get there I take my right earbud out and tap Crane on the shoulder, hoping it doesn't hurt him too much.

He turns around, and then looks surprised.

"Cassandra. what are you doing here?" He asks me coolly.

"If you mean what am I doing in your neighborhood...I'm friends with your neighbor. If you mean what am I doing in this exact spot...I'm listening to Nirvana and talking to you," I state.

"Why are you speaking to me here?" He asks.

"Confronting you, I guess. I mean, that's the best way I can think of to describe my intentions." I reply to him. Am I delaying this? Probably.

"About what exactly?" He asks in return to my reply.

I sigh a little before just saying "Look, I know what happened to you so I'm not even going to bother asking if you're okay because you're obviously not. By the way, why haven't you just gotten the police involved or something? Isn't that what everybody says to do?"

Jonathan gives me a brief look that says 'oh shit' before replying. Good, because I was gonna cry for no apparent reason if he kept giving me that look.

"I've tried, and it didn't do anything positive. All it did was make my arm broken when I was 8. If they couldn't catch her 7 years ago, they can't do it now so don't bother...please don't bother." He says, surprising me with his openness about it.

Wait, did he just say please? That's...quite unexpected of him.

"Alright...I-I won't," I say in reply. The logic kind of makes sense, after all...what ARE the chances of it actually working the second time around?

"Thank you. Now, go away," Jonathan states. Well, I suppose the politeness couldn't last forever. Besides, I really need to think about things.

I immediately place my earbud back in my ear and walk around the block.


	8. Chapter 8

**luneara eclipse- Actually, she just doesn't want to hurt him more...I actually spent a couple hours figuring out a way that Jonathan could convince her not to tell anyone and I settled on what I settled on. By the way, 'act' is the key word of the first part in your second sentence...**

**Jasmine Scarthing- Yes she does. This knowledge will certainly affect her in semi-visible ways :/**

**et-ampersand- Jonathan being himself will obviously occur in this story. Thanks, by the way! I'll admit...I'm a little proud that I introduced Cassandra to his home life without her being his neighbor. **

Nirvana is blasting through my ears while I end up walking out of Anna's neighborhood.

I suddenly text her that I'm going on a long walk and that I'm sorry about it, I just have to think about things. She replies, saying that it's fine.

I've always assumed that I would know what happened to Jonathan eventually but I didn't expect it to be what it was. Doesn't the kid deal with enough shit at school? Well apparently not, according to the horrible universe we live in.

So...okay, what information do I have? Whoever he lives with is an old abusive bitch, does a kind of abuse most people probably haven't thought of, believes in demons, and might have somehow made herself look innocent to the police. Honestly, I don't know if Jonathan was lying about that or not but I might as well not risk it. He survived for 15 years without any intervention,right? But shouldn't I intervene? Shouldn't I try to help him? Would it help though?

I sigh as I realize I'm having a mental war with myself.

Suddenly I feel a vibration from the back pocket of my black skinny jeans that I fell asleep in. Probably a text. I might answer...depends on who it is.

I take my phone out of my pocket and glance at it. I was correct, it is a text message. A text from Luke to be specific. He's asking what I'm doing at the moment.

Should I answer with the truth or not? I don't know, really. It would be nice to be honest with my only true friend at Gotham High but would he just make all of this worse? To be honest with you, he probably would. I hate to admit it, but if Jonathan expects the cops to not know about this it'll have to be our little secret. I text Luke back saying that I'm busy.

I feel like a jack ass now but at least I wasn't rude about it. I wasn't totally lying anyway- I am busy. Busy listening to music and thinking about a thing that needs to be thought of.

Once the song changes about 8 times I realize I should start heading back to Anna's house so I do. I walked nowhere, actually, I just walked to the nearby elementary school, Emerald Elementary. Don't ask me why they named it that, but it is a cool use of alliteration. Wait, can two word phrases be alliterative? I think so.

Yes, I have a vast knowledge of the English language that I don't really use. I also have a great deal of knowledge about the TV show House and I most certainly don't NEED to use that.

**October 1, 2005-**

My alarm clock beeps in my room, waking me up with a jolt. It's almost a new sensation, considering that the 28th of September until now were all in-service days for god knows what reason.

Ugh, I'm going to have to see Jonathan all scratched and/or bruised up, aren't I? I may not have acted all that sympathetic when I confronted him about the whole thing, but in all honesty I sometimes get that achy feeling in my chest whenever I remember what happens.

I take a shower and do the rest of the needed things for school. I'm pretty sure I can't go to school in my pajamas so I change into a black Linkin Park tee and black skinny jeans. I decide to go the whole mile and throw on my black vans.

Once I think I'm ready, it starts pouring outside. Hell, now I have to grab my gray hoodie since I don't exactly have any rain jackets at the moment.

I'm about to leave before the family cat, who hasn't really been a pest lately, starts meowing at me. Cats sleep in weird spots so often that I don't really see Tom all that often. Generic name, I know. He's even a really common breed, an orange tabby. I realize that there isn't any food in his bowl, feed him, and then hurry to school.

At school, all of the usual things happen in Spanish and I go to geometry class quicker than I usually do. Maybe the knowledge of what really happens to Crane is making me wonder how bad it can get. Seems cruel but it's actually the opposite of that. I sit down in my chair and just wait for more people to show up. A few people are shockingly already in the room.

Jonathan is almost late to class, surprising me. He looks just as bad as usual. It's a little sad that I'm able to accurately think that.

For the first time this year I don't pay attention at all in class. The reason for this is that I've come up with a new hypothesis: whoever the hell abuses Jonathan is a fanatic Christian. I've heard of cases where the abuser is fanatically religious and the fact that she talked about-er, screamed about, demons just makes that a possibility.

I used to go a Christian school so I'm trying to dig through my mostly useless knowledge of the Bible to see if there's any part that says 'attack people with crows'. I do recall something in Proverbs about ravens pecking the eye out of someone who mocks his father and disobeys his mother so that's probably where it came from. I guess an insane lady will get as close as she can. Yes, I said insane. No sane person would do what she does.

After a few boring classes, it's time for the ever dreaded and loved lunch period to come. Yes, lunch and I have a love/hate relationship.

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know I usually do my author's notes before the story starts but this is one that needed to be read after the chapter. That thing in Proverbs that Cassandra was thinking about near the end of the chapter? Yeah, that's actually a real thing and I'm pretty sure that's how whoever wrote Jonathan's childhood got the idea. The more you know, eh? **


End file.
